"I saw it a couple of days ago, but there was this confidential document issued by Russian National Defense Force. I saw it in there that in Fukushima [I NPP], on December 31 I believe, there was an explosion. I certainly remember, too, that "something was wrong" as the steam had been rising for several days prior. So the （Russian) analysis was that it suffered a complete meltdown. And so the United States arranged for 15,000 bags of potassium iodide to be distributed in early February. Also, polar bears, seals and other animals are dying in large numbers in the Arctic Ocean and other places and it is precisely due to the Fukushima accident. Many pieces of information like these. I thought they were terrible stories.

"Terrible stories" (凄い話) could also be translated as "terrific/fantastic stories". It was fantastic to watch the interviewers simply take what Hosokawa said as if they were incontrovertible "facts".

But in the reality-based world, steam has been seen rising on and off from Reactor 3 at least since July last year; it had probably been there ever since the March 14, 2011 hydrogen explosion that destroyed the operating floor and severely damaged the floors below but became visible only after enough debris had been removed. (See my post on 12/29/2013.)

As to the "explosion" on December 31, 2013, even the ex-ambassador to Switzerland who has been raising numerous alarms about the Fukushima accident, real or imagined, confirms it was just an earthquake (actually two earthquakes, he says) in Ibaraki Prefecture that day.

The "confidential Russian document" that the Ambassador links also has a mention of "radioactive snow" in several states in the US. That is so 2011/2012 winter in Japan, when people freaked out measuring naturally occurring short-life radionuclides in the snow (and rain, for that matter) - bithmus-214 and lead-214 - by using personal survey meters to get only the radiation levels or misreading the peaks of bithmus-214 for cesium-134/137 and lead-214 for iodine-131.

And "meltdown"? Mr. Hosokawa must know that meltdown (core melt) already happened in March 2011 in Reactor 1, Reactor 2 and Reactor 3.

I have no idea where Mr. Hosokawa came up with "15,000 bags" of potassium iodide pills, but it must be the "news" that the US Department of Health and Human Services solicited a bid for 1.4 million potassium iodide pills in December 2013. But the order is most likely part of the on-going program of stocking potassium iodide in preparation for nuclear emergencies. (This is an archive page of HSS announcing 1.7 million doses of liquid potassium iodide in 2005.)

As to the polar bears and seals and a host of other living things (including fish, starfish, etc.), they had been dying of mysterious diseases way before the Fukushima I NPP accident. In 2012, CNN reported that the cause of death of seal pups on the east coast of the US was "a new strain of avian flu" that jumped species. The most recent "scare" story was this one quoting the abstract of a paper presented by University of Alaska researchers, in which the researchers say they tested to see if cesium-134 and cesium-137 were present in the tissue samples. For some unknown reason, in Japan this morphed into "cesium-134 was detected, and therefore the seals were dying of Fukushima radiation!"

If Mr. Hosokawa's anti-nuclear stance is based on the fantastic stories (凄い話) like these, no wonder LDP and the Abe administration are comfortable letting the anti-nuclear ("beyond nuclear") issue be emphasized by the Hosokawa camp in the Tokyo gubernatorial race.

Quote a contrast to Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, who talks numbers and detailed facts about nuclear power and why he is against it now. Alas, he's not running for the governorship.

No matter. The Japanese media, from the NHK (increasingly government mouthpiece) on down, completely ignores the Hosokawa-Koizumi team anyway. The election is on Sunday, February 9, 2014.

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comments:

Anonymous
said...

La Primavera you wrote on that story in december 2011 and at the time the scientists ruled out the virus, after analysis were carried out, saying they will look at the radiation (http://ex-skf.blogspot.jp/2011/12/alaskas-ring-seals-may-be-suffering.html) factor. Why are you linking now to CNN on january 2012? It looks like they did not rebuke the earlier scientific analysis or they did not even talk about the earlier findings saying it was not virus connected but came out with new studies. The whole story on both sides is incredible, still surprised you did not refer to your december 2011 post on that one.

When an ocean foodweb foundation species like the sardine disappears and ocean biology experts offer NO explanation whatsoever .. the fix is in.

40-50 degree F temperatures in Alaska in the middle of winter can't really be talked about either. Their paymasters don't want to Hear about global warming, just Don't.

Kai Vetter says just trust us.

The world is undeniably aware NOW that the Japanese fuked up big time by not stopping the ground water flow immediately. That remedy was called for HOW MANY TIMES, here, ON THIS SITE ???

Sniping at the rear of those who fled Japan does seem a bit unseemly.Perhaps those who practice “Gross political interference” think it required.

This to be blamed on "avian flu", next?,http://enenews.com/scientists-link-unusual-alaska-seal-deaths-fukushima-fallout-skin-lesions-hair-loss-lethargy-pulsed-release-built-radionuclides-set-free-ice-melted-discussion-wildlife-health-implications-due

Why oh why can't Japan field a political candidate to rule Tokyo who is fact based on the very real insanity of continued support for nuclear power? There is no need to go all lunny tunes on us, the real facts are powerful enough.As time goes by, I really fear for Japan's future, much less the general human race, to deal with the consequences of going down the nuclear power path. I remain assured that this dark power force is much too much for the puny, self-centered human race (especially politicians) to cope with.

The mammal species that literally noses about hunting for food in the bottom muck, directly downstream of Fuku, and along the coast of Alaska where you'd expect deposition to really concentrate as the current diverges north and south ..

An international looting conspiracy: "Japan exports to the US over twice as much as it imports from the US."

"The trade deficit jumped 101.6% to ¥1.3 trillion. From one December to the next, it had more than doubled!"

"But we have to give grudging respect to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his brilliant successes: His visit to Yasukuni Shrine, where convicted Japanese war criminals are honored, re-ruffled some feathers among Japan’s most important trade partners; all assets denominated in yen, including household savings, have lost 25% of their value since his policies were baptized “Abenomics”; and inflation has kicked in nicely."

"According to Japan’s state religion of Abenomics, devaluing the yen would boost exports and cut imports. The resulting trade surplus would jumpstart the economy and induce Japan Inc. to invest at home. It would save Japan. But the opposite is happening."

About my coverage of Japan Earthquake of March 11

I am Japanese, and I not only read Japanese news sources for information on earthquake and the Fukushima Nuke Plant but also watch press conferences via the Internet when I can and summarize my findings, adding my observations.

About This Site

Well, this was, until March 11, 2011. Now it is taken over by the events in Japan, first earthquake and tsunami but quickly by the nuke reactor accident. It continues to be a one-person (me) blog, and I haven't even managed to update the sidebars after 5 months... Thanks for coming, spread the word.------------------This is an aggregator site of blogs coming out of SKF (double-short financials ETF) message board at Yahoo.

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